City Council members Robert Walsh and Elaine Pivirotto, both D-132, propose that before any Fire Department unit can be shut down — as was Engine Co. 5 last year — the mayor would have to hold a public hearing and announce the closure in a legal notice published 45 days beforehand.

The mayor would also have to announce the hearing date and submit written testimony outlining the economic reasons for the action, any potential negative impact on public safety and possible alternatives.

"There's never been a process by which there's a public hearing," Walsh said of his plan to require officials to publicly explain such actions.

Since the late 1980s, the city has eliminated Engines Cos. 2, 14 and 8, Ladder 3 and Service Ladder 12, along with Engine Co. 5 last year.

The council's Ordinance Committee, of which Walsh is co-chairman, tabled the proposal Tuesday night at its meeting in City Hall in order to make minor revisions and to wait for a legal opinion from city attorneys.

Mayor John M. Fabrizi closed Engine Co. 5 last October after cutting the Fire Department's budget to cover a shortfall. A company is the firefighters who staff a firetruck.

Fabrizi, who said the engine company could be reopened, cited an increase in overtime resulting from firefighter absenteeism.

Provisional Fire Chief Brian Rooney had urged the City Council to restore the funding.

Meanwhile, the city is in the process of hiring and training 16 new firefighters, which the mayor says will help save money in the long run by reducing overtime.

Walsh said notification of the closure should have been done differently and the public should have had more input.

He said firefighter union advertisements and articles in local media about the Engine 5 closure did not provide sufficient public notice; there was no prior notification from the mayor's office.

City Attorney Mark Anastasi told the committee that the mayor must notify the fire chief before a closure. The Fire Department's union can have input, he added.

City Council President Andres Ayala, D-137, agrees with Walsh and Pivirotto's proposal.

"There really ought to be more of a game plan involved," he said.

Ayala said he and other council members learned about the Engine Co. 5 closing only by asking the mayor before it occurred.

The public should be able to debate the merits of any future closing, he added.

Also, the mayor should notify the council several days before city budget hearings if the number of police officers or firefighters is to be reduced or transferred, Walsh said.

Three members of the Bridgeport Hispanic Fire Fighters Association attended the meeting, but did not get the chance to speak.

After the meeting, provisional Senior Fire Inspector Ronald Morales, president of the association, said he approves of the bill because a company now can be closed with little notice.

"Give the citizens of this city a voice," he said.

Fire Inspector Ismael Hernandez, the group's treasurer, said he disagrees with Fabrizi's reasons for closing the engine company.

He said the city could have avoided the budget gap if it hired sooner from a list of firefighter candidates compiled after a 2002 entrance exam. The new firefighters will join the department in June.